Blinded By The Lights
by spilled blue ink
Summary: Being the opening act for the hottest tour of the summer was like a dream to the four teens with a band. But nobody ever said it would include falling in love with your best friend, losing yourself in the fame & almost forgetting who you really are. Niley
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: No, I don't really own anything except the plot.**

_**Blinded By The Lights**_

_**Life in the fast lane **_  
><em><strong> Surely make you lose your mind <strong>_  
><em><strong> Life in the fast lane, everything all the time <strong>_  
><em><strong> Life in the fast lane, uh huh <strong>_  
><em><strong> Blowin' and burnin', blinded by thirst <strong>_  
><em><strong> They didn't see the stop sign, <strong>_  
><em><strong> took a turn for the worse<strong>_

* * *

><p>"<em>HELLO ALL YOU BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE ON THE INTERNET!" A raven haired girl smiling huge with all her teeth screamed into the camera and did a sign with her hands.<em>

"_YOU ARE ABOUT TO WITNESS HISTORY IN THE MAKING!" Another voice more girlier than the first yelled, and suddenly the camera shifted to a long haired brunette._

"_This is a once in a lifetime chance folks, so stay glued to your seats because this is going to be epic!" The brunette giggled and refocused the camera onto herself and her friend._

"_INTRODUCING, THE ONE, THE ONLY-" The raven haired girl was cut off by a male voice. _

"_Guys, what the hell are you doing?" The camera rolled to a guy with short brown hair, wearing a black wife beater that emphasized his muscles._

"_If you must know, Nick was taking way too long to tune his freaking guitar and me and Demi were getting bored. So, we decided to show some lo-ove to our fans." The brunette focused the camera back to her face and blew it a kiss accompanied by a wink._

"_Oh puh-leez, we all know who the fans really want." Joe snorted and grabbed the camera from brunettes hands, "Hello youtube, this is your local heartthrob slash soon to be super star, Joe Gray. How are you all doing?" The boy spoke into the camera. _

"_You're so full of yourself, it's annoying." Demi rolled her eyes._

"_That's not what you said last night." Joe said playfully with a wink, earning a smack on the chest._

"_Oh God! You're so embarrassing!" Demi replied, shaking her head wildly._

"_Ew. Guys, can we please keep the PDA to a minimum here?" The brunette said with a fake exaggerated gagging sound._

"_Ha, I know you want a ride on the Joe Express, too, Miss Miley. Don't even try to hide it." Joe said, flexing his muscles at her with a cocky grin plastered across his face._

"_Oh my God. The Joe Express?" Miley burst into a fit of hysterical laughter, "That's gotta be your _LAMEST_-"_

"_GUYS, _SHUT UP_!" A new impatient voice was heard from the background, "I'm done. Lets get practicing." _

"_Geesh, someone is on their period." Joe mumbled._

_The camera moved and the sound of foot steps could be heard in the background and finally a dimly lit garage came into view, with four teenagers standing with various instruments in their hands._

"_Ugh, since you both ruined it our intro, we're going to have to do it again!" Demi said with an over exaggerated sigh._

"_HELLO YOUTUBE!" _

"_Do you have to be so loud?" Nick groaned from behind her but Demi carried on like she hadn't heard him._

"_I'm Demi! Aka the awesomest chick you'll ever live to see."_

"_AND I'M MILEY!" Miley screamed louder, with the objective of annoying Nick. "And my best friend is a compulsive liar." She continued and stuck her out tongue at Demi._

"_And I'm Joe! The cute funny one." Joe said, flashing a grin towards the raven haired girl, only to earn an eye roll her side._

"_And that's Nick. But he wont introduce himself 'cause he's on his period." Miley droned in a dull tone and rolled her eyes._

"_Miley-" Nick warned, growing more annoyed at this friends each passing second._

"_Just kidding. He's just really boring and doesn't talk much." Miley joked sticking her tongue out at him._

"_I second that!" Joe exclaimed from behind her._

"_Me, too." Demi laughed._

_Nick shook at head lightly at his crazy friends, "Whatever, guys. Lets just get practicing." He said and adjusted his guitar._

"_OH, we're going to be playing an exclusive never-heard-before _Infinity Plus Four_ original song!" Miley exclaimed into the camera, smiling hugely at the very mention of music. "Written by the ah-mazing Nick Gray, this song tells a tragic tale of a boy who seeks refuge by his music and spills out his deepest emotions in the form-"_

"_I wrote it last night in 30 minutes because I was bored." Nick cut her off mid sentence._

"_Geez, would it KILL you to play along?" _

"_Get over it." Nick rolled his eyes, "Let's get started now. 1 2 3-" _

_And all of a sudden the goofy immature group of teenagers was replaced by four musicians who seemed to love music more than anything in their life._

_**I make the most of all this stress  
>I try to live without regrets<br>But I'm about to break a sweat  
>I'm freaking out<strong>_

_**It's like a poison in my brain  
>It's like a fog that blurs the sane<br>It's like a vine you can't untangle  
>I'm freaking out<strong>_

Every time I turn around  
>Something don't feel right<p>

_Just might be paranoid  
>I'm avoiding the lines because they just might split<br>Can someone stop the noise?  
>I don't know what it is but I just don't fit<em>

Consider me destroyed  
>I don't how to act 'cause I lost my head<br>I must be paranoid  
>I never thought it would come to this<br>I'm paranoid, yeah

_I take the necessary steps  
>To get some air into my chest<br>Can't hear the thoughts inside my head  
>I'm still freaking out<em>

_**That's why my ex is still my ex  
>I never trust a word she says<br>I'm running all the background checks  
>And she's freaking out<br>**__  
><em>_Every time I turn around  
>Something's just not right<em>

Just might be paranoid

_**I'm avoiding the lines because they just might split  
><strong>__Can someone stop the noise__**  
>I don't know what it is but I just don't fit<strong>__  
><em>_  
>Consider me destroyed<em>_  
><em>_I don't know how to act 'cause I lost my head  
>I must be paranoid<em>_  
>And I never thought it would come to this<br>I'm paranoid  
><em>_**  
>Stuck in a room of staring faces, yeah<br>Caught in a nightmare, can't wake up  
>If you hear my cry running through the streets<br>I'm about to freak, come on rescue me**_

_Consider me destroyed__  
>I don't how to act 'cause I lost my head<br>__I must be paranoid__  
>I never thought it would come to this<br>_I'm paranoid

_Joe sang the closing lines of the song and then looked back at his band mates. They were smiling._

"_That sounded better than I hoped it would." Nick grinned and hugged Miley who was standing right next to him, she mirrored his grin._

"_Oh yeah! Say hello to youtube!" Demi exclaimed loudly as her friends slowly begun to disperse._

"_Yo, Nick! I'm hungry. What did your mom made for lunch today?" Mileys voice could be heard in the background. _

_Nick's reply was something incoherent as both teenagers slowly exited the room._

"_Lets go Dem, I'm hungry, too." Joe whined._

"_Yeah, okay, lemme jus-" a hand appeared in front of the screen followed by Demi's face. _

"_So there you have it people, a complete unedited band rehearsal of Infinity Plus Four. Hope you liked it! Leave us a comment and tell us what you think!" She smiled and then blew a little kiss into the camera before the screen went black._

A man wearing an expensive looking suit grinned wildly as the lights flipped back on the room.

"_So?_ What do you think?" He asked his audience.

"Um.. Marshall, now you've been working for me for a good ten years now and I've always respected your opinion but what the _hell _is this?" The slightly muscular man practically yelled in a way only a boss would on his employee. And by the looks of it, he probably _was _the boss.

The man named Marshall still continued to grin. "Arent they something?"

"_No_," The man spoke again, "I came here expecting a possible opening act for Miss Russo's upcoming summer tour and this is what you give me? A… a bunch of _kids _acting stupid?"

"But can't you see, Steve? They have talent. Potential. And they're exactly what we need to sky rocket our sales for this tour!" Marshall exclaimed, still confident about his plan.

"But they're a bunch of _immature _kids, for Chrissake!" Steve replied.

"That's exactly what the public wants! Someone who's not afraid to have fun. Think about it, if they open for us this summer, they'll leave the crowds all pumped up and ready for Selena's performance!" Marshall emphasized and shot a nervous glance at the girl sitting at the edge of the table.

"Oh, that's _bull-"_

"Wait, I think he's onto something here." The girl who was previously quiet spoke up, raising her perfectly manicured nails in the air. "I think he actually has a point."

"What do you mean?" Steve frowned towards her direction.

She snapped her head towards his direction, "I mean, he's absolutely right! Remember my last opening act?" Selena said with a slightly disgusted expression.

"Oh, don't remind me!" Marshall groaned. "They were horrible!"

"Exactly. And they were a professional band. Now, these kids… what was their name again?"

"Infinity Plus Four."

"Yeah, them, they have lots of energy in them. They'll be perfect for warming up the crowd and making them ready for _my _performance!" Selena smirked.

"But, they're so… _unexperienced. _Are we seriously hiring a bunch of unprofessional teenagers to open up in a sold out arena in front of _thousands _of people?" The mans frown grew deeper.

Marshall nodded and grinned but before he could speak, he was cut off by an unfamiliar voice.

"Actually, I think it's a great idea!" Another slim man with horn rimmed glasses spoke up for the first time. "As the tour manager, I think it would work out quite nicely. They seem to have a look-at-us-we're-having-fun aura to their personalities. And they certainly have talent. So why not give it a shot and call them for an audition?" He suggested, earning a nod from Marshall and Selena.

"Yeah. Exactly." Marshall grinned.

Steve frowned, "Okay, fine then. Call them for an audition here on Monday. I'll judge them personally." He shook his head. "This better be worth it, Marshall. Meeting adjourned." He got up from his chair and walked out of the room.

"Oh, it will be." Marshall grinned to himself. "This is going to change their lives."

Only, he didn't know just how true his words would prove to be in the future.

… **that wasn't completely horrible , was it? :-/ hahah, it gets better. I promise. And besides, prologues are always supposed to be boring, right? **_**Right?**_** Okay, no. But I'm kind of excited to do this story. And I'm hoping you guys will like it, too. A few extra details :- Nick and Miley aren't dating, they're best friends. Joe and Demi, however, are together. They have been for a while now. Selena is famous. Nick/Demi/Miley/Selena are all roughly the same age (seventeen) and Joe is two years older. Marshall is Selena's manager. Everyone else is kind of irrelevant. Err, guess that should clear stuff up. I know the band name is ****stupid ****but I couldn't think of anything else! ; And oh, sorry if this isn't how the whole tour thing works. =( I tried to make it sound legit. Hahah. Also, was this too long for a prologue? Lol.**

**But yeah, drop me a review? And tell me if this is actually worth doing or I should I just drop the idea? Much love. xoxo**


	2. Chapter 1

**Blinded By The Lights  
><span>Chapter 2<span>**

_**When I'm with you  
>It doesnt matter where we are<br>Or what we're doing  
>I'm with you and thats all that matters<br>Time passes much too quickly**_

* * *

><p>The long haired teenage brunette propped her legs up higher on the coffee table in front of her and examined her chewed-on nails, and then groaned, "I'm bored."<p>

The young boy sitting in front of her shook his head and threw his chemistry book towards her, which only narrowly missed her nose before she caught it.

"_HEY!"_

"You said you were bored." Nicks expression was amused.

She rolled her eyes, "I don't even understand this shit. How do you know this?" She opened the book and flipped open random pages, groaning as she read each word.

"Because _maybe _I actually pay attention in class." He shook his head and got up to sit next to her on the couch. "You gotta study, Miles."

Miley shrugged, "Nah, I'll just copy your answers."

"We have finals in two weeks!" He tried to talk some sense into her.

"Exactly. _Two _weeks. It's way _too _early to start worrying you're curly haired head. Stop being such a nerd." She said before crouching over to the table in front of her and picking up the remote.

Nick didn't mention the finals again. He know Miley would somehow cope in the end, she always did. Instead he closed his own book and lounged on the couch beside Miley as she turned on the TV, flipping channels till she finally landed on one of her choice.

"Oh, _ew_, do you have to watch that?" He groaned while Miley chuckled.

"What's your problem?" She pretended to snap while the charectars on the rambled and bickered on about the most ridiculous stuff.

"It's a show full of twats and it gives New Jersey a bad name." He said, and tried to take the control out her hands. It resulted in failure.

"Protective, are we now, Nickyy?" Miley giggled, and stuffed the remote to her side.

"I'm just saying." He muttered before he sank back on the couch, deflated.

"You'll get over it." She said before bringing up the volume of the TV higher causing Nick to silently groan in the background.

Just at that moment, the door bell rang. Nick quickly scrambled to his feet to get the door before saying:

"I'll get it. Anything to escape Snooki and her magnified boobs."

Miley chuckled behind him. "Loser." She muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.

Nick opened the door to reveal a rather _star struck _Demetria. Wait… Star struck? Demi does not get star struck. Did Joe propose or something…?

"_Uh, _Demi?"

Her smile grew wider, showing all her pretty white pearls and her dimple grew prominent. She was shaking with exhilaration.

"You wanna come in…?" Nick trailed unsure.

She nodded and briskly walked inside, her whole body shaking and her face hurting from all the smiling. She was radiating happiness.

Before Nick could probe her for more information, a very un-Demi like invocation ripped through her lungs.

"OHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYYYYY GODDDDD!" She squealed, laughing happily in between.

_Now it's official. Joe _did _propose._

But wait, that's not possible. Since Joe is up in room right now. Sleeping most of his college life away.

So then, _what the hell happened?_

At the same moment, Miley came into the room, hearing all the noise.

"Is that-" She stopped dead in her tracks, "Demi? What the hell happened?" She said, eying her bestfriend up and down. She was hyperventilating.

"_G-GUYS!_" Demi started, the grin never leaving her face. "I- we-, _ahhhhhh!"_ She burst out excitedly in the end.

Nick and Miley exchanged glances, questing the girls sanity.

"Umm…. Dems, are you okay?" Nick finally spoke, pulling Miley close to him as if Demi would attack any second like a mad woman.

She nodded fiercely, "Its just- my mom, she-" she paused.

"What happened to your mom?" Miley exclaimed, suddenly growing concerned.

"It's not like that. She's fine. But-," she paused again, causing both Miley and Nick to groan loudly.

"SPIT IT OUT, DEMETRIA!" Miley said, impatiently.

"Maybe you should sit down and talk…?" Nick suggested and gently gripped Demi's shoulder to guide her to a nearby chair.

"Okay," she started, trying hard not to smile so hard, "This morning, more like fifteen minutes ago. Or maybe not because that's when I found out..? Because I woke up soooo late, Joe wouldn't quit texting me last night and-"

"_Demi!_" Both Nick and Miley said in unison, cutting off her rambling.

"Oh, sorry, I'm just excited. Anyway, my mom she, her phone. She got a call!" She said excitedly, talking at full speed.

Nick and Miley exchanged confused looks.

"_So?" _

"Except of course, it wasn't just any call. I mean if it was I wouldn't be so excited so much. I mean, oh God. What's wrong with me? First I wasn't talking at all and now I'm going all blablablabla," she said, doing a sigh with her hands. "But it's not my fault, you'd be like this too, I mean, oh gosh, this is so exciting. I cant believe it!" The raven haired girl looked up to meet the glare of her best friends.

"Sorry, I should just say it, shouldn't it?" She muttered.

"No kidding!" Miley said in her southern accent, growing impatient.

"Right, so uh, my mom, she got a call-"

Miley cut her off midsentence, "Okay, YES, Demi. We get it she got a call. What's so important about that?" She demanded.

"It, the call, was from-," another pause and two loud groans, "a guy named Marshall."

"_What? _That was IT?" Miley choked out.

"No, no- The guy, he was some hot shot manager person, I don't know!"

This caught their attention.

"And?"

"He- he wants us to audition for the opening act of," the grin was back and she was shaking again, "SELENA RUSSO'S SUMMER TOUR."

Nick almost choked on his own spit. Miley almost fainted.

"Wha- _WHAT?"_ Miley exclaimed after recovering.

"_Are you freaking kidding me?_" Nick was next to speak. Or yell. Whatever way you put it. "How? When? It's probably a joke!"

Demi shook her head and stood up, "He gave my mom the address and everything. He said he saw a video of us online and thought that we were exactly he was looking for. He wants an audition on Monday."

"Oh my god. This is crazy." Miley put a hand on her head, "I need to lie down." It was her turn to shake.

Nick, however, still had questions. "Who's Marshall?" He demanded.

"God, Nick, I don't know? But Monday is TWO days away! He said he needs us to fly out to Los Angeles. He'll pay for the air tickets and everything. And, god, did we actually just almost score ourselves a chance to open for SELENA RUSSO?" Demi exclaimed with frantic hands movements.

Just at that moment, Joe emerged from the top of the stairs. Sporting a wrinkled white shirt and messed up hair.

"What's with all the noise?" He asked in a groggy tone while slowly rubbing his eyes.

"Oh God, JOE!" Demi squealed and attacked him with a hug, "We've been called for audition for Selena Russo's tour! And we might-"

"_What?"_

"According to Demi at least, I cant freaking believe it!" Miley squealed, the excitement finally kicking in.

Nick even managed to smile with all his teeth, which, for him, was unusual. "Say hello to practicing till the guitars bleeds and we pass out from all the exhaustion." He grinned and held his arms out for a group hug.

**-x-**

_"What if the don't like us?_" The tiny brunette asked for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last 48 hours as she quit pacing around the wooden floored room and crossed her arms in front of her to face her friends.

"So we'll just have to suck it up and carry on with our lives like normal," Demi replied bored, judging by her tone, this probably wasn't the first time she had answered this question of hers.

"Calm down, Miles," Joe stated calmly, and stood up from his seat besides his girlfriend and walked over to her, "you look like someone whose wife is in labor." He swung his arm around her shoulder and steadied her.

"I know but…" she paused for a second, "what if I mess up?" she glanced over at her best friend sitting in the corner of the room as she said the words. He stared right back at her with his guitar in his lap.

"You won't" Nick spoke firmly and put his guitar away to walk towards her, "I promise." He passed her a little smile.

"Plus we practiced like crazy," Joe pointed out," it's going to be fine."

Miley sighed softly, "You're right. I'm just being a nervous moron."

"A very talented, nervous moron but yeah." Nick smiled and held out his arms for her to crawl in.

She smiled back at him and met him in a hug. He hugged back tighter.

"Aww, GROUP HUG!" Demi yelled from behind and attacked them with a hug, with Joe joining in.

Just at that moment, a polite cough was heard from the background causing the group to split apart.

"They're ready for you now." A woman with a clip board in her hands informed them. "Follow me." She instructed.

The four teenagers exchanged glances before following her through the wooden doors. Nick had silently slid his hand into Mileys, gently squeezing it for reassurance.

Inside the room the woman had led them was a panel of people. There were a few guitars in the corner, lots of different certificates framed on the wall and a drum set on one side.

"I'm Marshall," a man with short black hair stood up as they entered and shook their hands. "You might recognize me as the person who called you earlier."

Nick was first to speak. "Yes, we remember." He smiled politely, "Nice to meet you."

"We don't exactly have time for socializing here, Marshall," Steve said impatiently, "lets just get down to business. Show me what you've got, _kids._"

Marshall passed them all an encouraging grin and went back to his seat.

"Okay, uh, so we're going to be singing a called _Stand _for you today," Joe stated as the band got into position and the finally started singing.

_Alone and helpless  
>Like you've lost your fight<br>But you'll be alright, you'll be alright  
>'Cause when push comes to shove<br>You taste what you're made of  
>You might bend till you break,<br>'Cause its all you can take,  
>On your knees you look up,<br>Decide you've had enough, you get mad,  
>You get strong, wipe your hands, shake it off,<br>and then you **stand**_

A few more songs later, including solos from each member of the band, they were asked to leave. They were told they would receive a call if their band were to be selected, with all the details of the tour.

A week passed.

No phone call.

They were beginning to think they were probably rejected and then one day, when the tour teens were gathered up in Demi's living room, discussing the audition for the umpteenth time, they _finally_ called .

"Guys, I think we should just forget about it. They probably hated us." Demi said, a thin layer of disappointment was hidden behind her words but she wouldn't let it show.

"But… that Marshall guy. I don't know. He seemed to like us." Miley countered feebly. It seemed like they'd had this conversation too many times.

"Demi's right," Nick stated slowly and emitted something like a sigh in between, "we're probably just-"

Half way through his sentence, the phone rang.

"I'll get it!" Miley practically leaped off the couch to get the phone.

The person on the other end of the line started speaking quickly through the line and Miley listened intently, letting out her occasional "yeah"s and "okay"s. But it wasn't until the very end of the phone call a huge grin finally broke out on her features and she turned to face her curious band mates.

"Well? Who was it?"

"Guys, we," Miley grinned, "WE'RE GOING ON TOUR WITH SELENA RUSSO THIS SUMMER!"

**Thank you to everyone who read/reviewed the last chapter. :) Means a lot. Hope you liked this chapter. I admit, it is a bit boring but it was important for the plot line. I'll update soon, hopefully, considering its summer now. =D But anyway, leave me a review and tell me what you think! ;)**

**xoxo**


	3. Chapter 2

**Blinded By The Lights  
><strong>_**Chapter 2**_

_**Because we're never gonna be as young as we are tonight  
>We'll let the world know we're alive<br>We're here to chase the flashing lights  
>Just wait and see<br>And there's no need to complicate it  
>This will be our year to take it<br>We're never gonna be as young as we are tonight**_

* * *

><p>The bus moved at a steady speed along the metaled road leading to towards their destination and the tiny brunette laid back further in her seat.<p>

"We're going to be playing our first ever show in just a few hours, Nick, can you believe it?" She let out a sigh that could only be characterized as one of contentment.

"No, not really," he fought off a grin, "we're finally going to live out our dream." He snaked a causal arm behind her back and pulled her close.

"This is too good to be true," she grinned yet again, "I get to spend a whole summer doing what I love and with people I love."

"And get paid for it." Nick added, causing a roar of laughter to erupt from the girls throat.

"Yeah, that _too_."

Silence hung over them for a little while. But it wasn't awkward silence, both of them were just thinking about the future and the sea of opportunities they had embarked upon. It was a while until the brunette sat up straight in her seat and turned towards her best friend, boring her sparkling blue eyes into his chocolate brown ones.

"Nick?" Her tone was all serious and her face was scrunched up in concentration. It was _adorable._

He could have laughed but she looked so focused, he decided to behave himself and offered her a smile.

"Yes?"

"Promise me something?" Her eyes were still digging deep into his, seeing right through him.

"Anything."

"On this tour, we're going to be meeting different people and… our popularity is bound to grow," she paused for a moment and searched his eyes again before continuing, "_please_ don't let that break us apart."

Her simple request meant the world to him.

"_Never._" He replied before tightly clasping her hand around his, "Best friends for life, right?"

She laughed, "_Right._"

"Nothing is ever going to come between us, Mi. The fame, a person or anything." He continued, "you are my best friend and I love you."

She shot him a genuine smile that told him his words meant the world to her and then joked, "Good, because if you plan to back out, I want that bike I got you for your last birthday back." She stuck her tongue out before sinking back to his side, enjoying the moment while it lasts.

**-x-**

The next day the tour kicked off in Dallas, Texas. The four teens were doing sound check when a slim girl in a plain white dress walked in over to the stage and all eyes shifted to her, suddenly becoming the center of attention.

"I'm not sure if we've formally met before, I'm Selena." She spoke up boldly, making sure she was heard.

"Oh we know who you are," Joe grinned goofily and stuck out his hand, "The names Joseph." He winked.

Selena looked amused, she passed him a little smile and shook his hand, "nice to know." Her eyes drifted off to the rest of the group.

"My names Demi, and this large lump of meat is my boyfriend." Demi nudged Joe because of his obvious flirting while he chuckled.

"Oh, so we've got a couple on board. _Cute._"

"And I'm Miley," the brunette smiled brightly and stuck out her hand.

"Hm, yeah," Selena muttered distractedly and her eyes landed onto the shy curly haired guy standing next to Miley. "Aren't you going to introduce yourself, curly?"

"Oh, I'm Nick," he offered with a smile before lightly clearing his throat, "pleasure meeting you."

"Oh the pleasure is all mine." Selena let out a delicate laugh and shook his hand.

"So you excited for the show?" Joe piped in.

"Well, yeah. But it gets a bit boring after a little while, honestly." Selena confessed with a causal shrug.

"Really?" Miley sounded surprised, "how could you possibly get tired of performing on stage and doing what you love?"

Selena let out a half laugh, "There is a lotmore to the fame than just performing on stage. _Trust me._" Her eyes held a mischievous glint.

"We'd_ love_ to find out." Nick said, looking straight at Selena and then did something completely out of character: he winked.

"Oh I'd love to show you," She winked back.

Suddenly a phone buzzed and Selena pulled out her shiny black iPhone. "Oops, got to go guys. I'll see you people in a while. On stage." She laughed lightly before walking away.

Nick stared.

But then Miley burst out laughing, clutching her stomach and slapping Nick lightly on the back.

"Oh dear God,_ Nick!" _She said in between the laughter.

"What?" He asked.

""_We'd love to find out" _WINK!" she said before doubling in laughter.

"I was just being nice!" He hissed but anyone could see the blush that had crept up his cheeks.

"You keep telling that to yourself, little man." Joe joined in and patted his brother on the back.

"WINK!" Miley laughed again before someone called them back to sound check.

**-x-**

_Hold on tight, it's a roller-coaster ride we're on  
>Say goodbye, 'cause we won't be back again<br>Up and down, you're all around  
>Say, goodnight and goodbye<em>

"Thank you everybody! We had such a great time tonight!" Joe yelled into the microphone as the crowd screamed even louder.

"Now make some noise for the star of the night!"

"_SELENA RUSSO!"_

The lights dimmed and the group ran off the stage, adrenaline pumping through their veins and sweat dripping from their foreheads. They'd just had their first performance and the crowd loved them! Grinning ear to ear, they high fived one another while Joe and Demi locked in a passionate embrace.

Nick grinned wildly, grabbing Miley by the hand and lead her to a back door that led to a small cemented area underneath the night sky. They ran towards their destination, hand in hand and felt the cold breeze hit their faces.

"That was amazing!" Miley giggled with exhilaration and spread out her arms wide to feel the cold wind rushing past her.

"I know," he grinned, "it was perfect." He stood right in front of her, looking straight into her ocean blue eyes.

She laughed, feeling high on happiness. "It doesn't get any better than this, does it?" She looked up at the clear night sky.

He stared at her for a long moment, an odd unfamiliar feeling stirring up inside of him, "maybe, it does." He finally let out, the adrenaline pumping in his veins, willing him to do something he'd never planned.

"What do you m-" her sentence was cut off shortly as she felt a pair of lips on hers. Despite the initial shock, her eyes instantly fell close.

Without thinking a single rational thought, she kissed him back. His lips were soft against hers and his arms somehow made it across to wind behind her back, locking her in place. Her fingers dug into his curls and he smiled through the kiss. His tongue danced together with hers and their lips smacked together again and again before they finally pulled away, both at the same time. Foreheads laid against one another, their eyes opened.

"_Whoa._"

**HAPPY NILEY DAY, hahah. :-) hope you all had a nice day. I was out most the time and now I'm tired as hell but I figured I should update today, so here it is. Hope I didn't completely ruin the story with this chapter. :D and one more thing, the lack of reviews on the previous chapter wasn't exactly encouraging. I got FOUR.=l drop me a review, my loves and tell me what you think and how you spent today. :) **

**xoxo**


	4. Chapter 3

**Blinded By The Lights****  
><strong>_**Chapter 3**_

_**But if I don't tell you now, I may never get  
>The chance again to tell you that<br>I need ou, tell you what I'm feeling  
>If I keep these feelings in<br>And if I don't say the words  
>How will you hear what's inside my heart<br>How will you know then if I don't tell you now**_

* * *

><p>"<em>Whoa"<em>

The two teens looked up at each other at the same time. Miley lightly shook her head, as if she had snapped out of some sort of daze and Nick's hands fell from her waist.

"Nick, did we just-," she spoke, her tone laced with frustration, "you kissed me!" It was hard to tell if the last part of her sentence was a statement or an accusation.

Nick was looked at her, his gaze lingered for the shortest second and then stared down at his feet. "Yeah, um, I don't know what-," he tone was embarrassed and he felt at a loss of words, "_sorry._" He finally muttered, his voice barely audible.

"But…" Miley brought up two of her fingers to her lips, the place where Nicholas' had been just a moment ago, and gently touched them. And for a brief insane moment, she thought she actually felt a tingle of something. Something she had never actually felt before. Could it be the terrible cliché you hear in all the movies…. _Fireworks?_ But don't you feel them _during_ the kiss? And not after.

"But you kissed me." She repeated her words again, drawing her fingers back and shaking her head.

"I'm sorry." Nick said, wishing nothing more than to go drown in some sort of puddle to escape the embarrassment. His cheeks turning a deep shade of red.

"Best friends don't kiss." Miley looked as if she were solving some sort of complicated math equation, slowly putting all the pieces together.

"Yeah.." he muttered, hands shoved into his pockets.

"But.." she met his gaze for a brief instant, "we just did."

"_Yeah."_

Miley wanted to laugh the whole thing off and go back to messing with Nick and stealing his chips. But she couldn't. For the first time in her life, she felt tongue tied.

"Lets… just forget this ever happened, okay?" Nick spoke quickly, running a hand through his curls in one quick frantic movement.

_It's going to be little hard to forget about this, buddy boy._

She nodded. "Yeah.. sure, already forgotten." Cue forced chuckle.

"Yep."

"This is awkward."

"I should go…"

"Uh, me, too."

"See you in the morning,"

"Good night."

"Night."

And that's how the duo finally ended their conversation and frantically fled towards the exit. Bumping into each other the way, they both blushed and then sprinted off to opposite directions.

To say that it was awkward, would be understatement of the _year!_

**-x-**

"And this _actually_ happened?" The black haired girl probed the short brunette the next morning while they had breakfast. She had listened to her best friend recount the events of the previous night, while slowly chewing on her pancakes. She seemed to be enjoying herself.

"No, Demetria, I just made it all up for the sake of your entertainment!" The brunette rolled her eyes, "_Of course _it happened! Ugh, what I am supposed to do now?" She groaned, burying her face into her palms.

Demi let out a small chuckle at her friends antics, "Relax, it's not like it was a bad thing. Plus we all sort of knew the boy was always so in love with you." She shrugged, putting another piece of her pancake into her mouth.

Miley groaned loudly again, "how could you even take this so lightly?"

Demi ignored Miley's question and casually shrugged, "So how was it like? Kissing _nicky-poo_? " She smirked and gently elbowed her friend in the stomach.

"I.. don't know. He was really gentle and… soft. And amaz-" she stopped herself halfway and shook her head wildly, "how am I going to face him again now?"

"Aw, young love." Demi made a little heart with her hands, earning a glare from Mileys side. "And you wont see him for a while anyway, he's gone."

"What do you mean he's gone?" Miley said quickly. The emotion in her tone could be unmistakably identified as panic.

"Calm your panties, he went out for breakfast with Joe and Sel."

She relaxed a bit. "Oh, I suppose that's good, because I wont have to-" Miley stopped halfway through her sentence, realizing something and looked up at Demi, "since when do you call her _Sel_?" She asked.

"Since she started calling me Dems. We're friends now," Demi grinned as she spoke and then paused for a second, "well…. kind of."

"_What?"_ Miley seemed visibly shocked. "And when did this little _friendship _bloom, anyway?" She continued, using air quotes.

"Last night after the show. I presume the same time you and _Nicky_ ran off to suck face." Demi playfully stuck her tongue out.

"Woah, _okaay._"

"She invited Joe and I to hang in her bus with her. She wanted you two to come as well but we couldn't find you. But anyway, she's totally chill! It was really fun." Demi chuckled thinking about her time last night.

"Hm, glad you had fun."

"Yeah, but she kept asking about Nick, though. It was annoying but at least now I know my boyfriends safe around her." Demi chuckled again, finding humor in her own sentence.

Miley felt an odd emotion bubble inside of her. A sinking feeling.

_Did Selena like Nick?_

_No._

She _can't._

Wait, why does she even care?

_He's your best friend, of course you care!_

She shrugged off the feeling, deciding it's probably best not to look in it too much and got up from the small table. "I'm going to go call mom. She's probably freaking out thinking I am dead, since I haven't returned her calls."

Demi gave her a small nod and she walked away, bringing her palm upwards to her face to rest on the top of her forehead. She felt her head spin lightly and an annoying feeling tugged inside of her. Even though there was no rational reason for this, she couldn't help but make that annoying sinking feeling so away.

She was _upset._

**-x-**

Nick stood next to Joe just before the sound check that evening. He rambled on about something about how Kevin was thinking of getting a new house. He just tuned him out, though. There were more important things on his mind to think about. The first one being the events of last night. He felt like a complete idiot. An absolute moron. He couldn't stop thinking about it, about how good it felt, about how she grabbed his curls with her delicate little fingers and how she kissed him back.

A part of him wanted to do it again. But the other, more dominant part, wanted him to go drown in a puddle. He was _embarrassed. _He hadn't seen her again since the… you know, incident. And he wasn't sure how he'd face her again. He knew he might have screwed a perfectly good friendship with his impulsive move but he just couldn't bring himself to regret it.

He _didn't _regret it. He was a tad bit embarrassed, yeah, because it could have gone differently and more smoothly. But he definitely didn't regret it.

If this 24 hours ago, he would never have done such a thing. Never even thought about it. But now, it was different. He was feeling all these weird emotions, emotions he had never exactly felt before. This was something entirely different. This was Miley they were talking about here. His _best friend. _Things had always so uncomplicated with her. Always so simple. He always was certain about how he felt about her. So how did one little event change all of that? He didn't understand it.

And it was messing with his head.

At that moment suddenly, Demi and Miley walked into the arena. Demi grinned at Nick and said something to Miley, while she just walked beside her slowly, keeping her eyes on anything that was not Nick.

"Hi, Nick!" Demi was suddenly in front of him, nudging him lightly. There was something about her smile today, something that made him feel like he was missing on some kind of an inside joke.

"Oh hey dems," Nick muttered distractedly, "Hi, Miles," he offered a weak smile.

She looked up and him and smiled a bit in return, "Hey," she muttered.

Demi started giggling, earning the harsh glare of the brunette and a barely audible 'shut up'.

"Okaay then, since all of you are acting weirder than usual today, I figure we should get practicing?" Joe spoke up for the first time and shook his head. The group dispersed and took their positions.

The concert went great that night. Joe and Nick hung out in Selena's bus again, while Miley stayed back with Demi. Demi was on the sleek leather couch, painting her nails a deep shade of red and then slowly blowing some air from her mouth on each fingernail as she went along. Miley sat next to her, listening to her iPod. The Frays cover of Heartless blaring from the earphones.

It was a while until Miley spoke up. "This tour thing is harder than I thought."

Demi laughed lightly, and unscrewed the bottle cap. "We're checking into a hotel a day after tomorrow. A nice sleep on a king sized bed and room service will make you love this tour all over again." She said, examining her nails.

"I don't know. Things are still so weird with Nick," Miley groaned loudly.

Demi chuckled, "Oh you'll sort it out. It's _Nick_ and _you_ we're talking about here!" She waved her fingers in the air and scratched away a little speck of nail paint that was on the skin beneath her nail.

"Yeah, you're right, I guess," Miley shook her head lightly, "I do miss mom and Noah though." She sighed.

Demi passed her a small smile, "look on the bright side. Selena said when we check into our hotel, she'd take us to a over 21 club. '_To have a taste of the real Hollywood life'_," Demi quoted Selena's words and then grinned.

**-x-**

They had checked into a hotel and were supposed to spend the night there before heading back on the road again tomorrow afternoon. Selena had now become good friends with the group. Heck, Nick even spent most of his time with her. This annoyed Miley more than a little but she wasn't sure if it was just because of the fact that he was her best friend or something completely different.

Selena had kept her word and had taken them to one of the hottest clubs in town. They were of course underage but the guard on the door didn't really seemed to mind as he gladly took a small wad of freshly pressed, crisp money into his pocket. Selena had told them to _"keep their heads held high and look sexy." _as they entered the club at 1a.m .

Loud music was blaring in the club, jam packed with people who were dancing under the dim multicolored lights of the place. Half of them already drunk.

"How come I have never read an article about you online going clubbing?" Demi asked out of plain curiosity. She was sporting a short sea green sparkly dress with high heels and her arms were latched onto her boyfriends.

"Because I never get caught, honey," Selena smirked, seeming pleased with herself, "I'm the cute little innocent girl of the industry, remember?" She even threw in a little pout.

Demi stared at her for a second and then started chuckling, "_Brilliant!_ You need to teach me that once I become a world famous superstar." She said. Half joking and half serious.

Selena chuckled as a tall blonde guy walked over to her and offered to buy her a drink. She laughed again loudly and took his outstretched arm, "Let's get this party started!" She said to the group, before walking away, giggling and laughing all the way.

Now this is what _should've_ happened: Miley has one too many shots in an attempt to distract her mind off of Nick, getting drunk as hell. Dances with some guy, Nick gets jealous. Kicks the guys ass, they kiss and makeup and voila! A Happy ending.

Unfortunately, though, things didn't exactly turn out that way.

The clock stroked two, announcing they had been here for exactly an hour now and Miley scooted further on her stool next to the bar. She had barely touched the drink she had ordered and her expression was bored. Her eyes travelled over to the dance floor, a sea of people synchronizing their bodies to the beat of the rhythm. She spotted Joe and Demi somewhere in the crowd, grinding against each other. Making a mental gagging sound, she looked away. She spotted Selena, too. She looked drunk as she laughed with her mouth open and flapped her arms next to some guy with a lot of piercings. She saw someone throw up on someone else's shoes, too. But yet, she couldn't really find the person she was looking for.

_Where is he?_

She slumped her shoulders and took a sip of her drink, the cold liquid scratched the back of her throat. Shaking her head slightly, she pushed her drink away. Because suddenly all she wanted to do was get out of here, get a glass of water and sleep. She wasn't having any fun.

Usually, whenever they went to clubs or parties back at home, she and Nick would always stick together. They'd laugh, have fun and always take care of each other. Even those rare cases when one of them had a girlfriend/boyfriend, they would still hang out with each other at parties. Always. No exception. Heck, the first time Miley got drunk was _with _Nick. And when she woke up the next morning with a raging hangover, Nick was the one who pushed a strand of her hair back and handed her an aspirin.

So it felt odd being here today without Nick. She felt… sick, almost. Getting up from her spot, she made a quick decision to grab a taxi back to the hotel. But as she walked towards the exit, she felt a faint voice call her name and felt herself being pulled backwards from her arm.

"Ow, what the-" Miley was fully prepared to pull out the can of pepper spray her mom had given to her and unleash her karate skills on whoever it but she stopped immediately as her eyes landed onto the stranger, "_Nick?_ Where the hell were you?" The question rolled off her tongue abruptly and she pulled her arm back.

"Hey," he looked happy, "come with me." He said, taking hold of her arm again and started walking. Only this time, Miley didn't pull her arm back.

He lead them to a secluded room at the back of the club and then turned towards her, "Hey," he said, again. He was grinning wildly.

"Nick! Where were you? I was looking all over for you,"

"Well, uh, nowhere," he grinned again, he looked too happy. "I wanted to see you."

Miley didn't look convinced though. "What have you been smoking?" Her crinkled her nose at the unmistakable scent that rolled off of him in waves. It wasn't exactly the smell of his normal Axe.

He shook his head, "nothing I haven't tried before," he dismissed her and took her hand, "I know what I'm doing." He stated.

"Listen, I've been thinking.." He started and Miley raised an eyebrow, beckoning him to continue.

"About the kiss… and I don't know…," he sounded like he was struggling for words to say, "I cant stop thinking about it. About you…. It's all just really confusing."

Miley nodded a little. He was right, she felt exactly the same.

"And… we haven't even talked properly since then, Miley!" He sounded frustrated at this point, "I just.. It's messing with my head."

Miley nodded again, "Yeah, tell me about it." She took a mental sigh of relief, things were finally going to resolve between Nick and her.

The next thing that Nick said, though, was something that Miley wasn't expected at all.

"So I think… I think we should be together!" he blurted out, he said his words in such a rush that it was almost impossible to understand them.

Miley froze. "W-what?" She asked and added a little chuckle, thinking she had heard incorrectly.

"I mean, I don't know if we can go back to being friends, Mi," he was obviously uncomfortable, "I've been having all these weird emotions… I just don't know.." He was shaking his head wildly.

Miley took a step backwards, "Nick..." she almost whispered.

"Tell me something, Mi,"he told hold of her hands again, "have you not been feeling all these weird emotions out of nowhere, ever since that night? "he was looking straight into her eyes at this point.

"No," Miley answered quickly and then the thing with Selena popped in her head, how she felt upset over something that probably wasn't even real, and then she rephrased her sentence, "maybe… Look, Nick, we're _best friends." _She emphasized on the last word.

"What do you mean?" His voice sounded faint.

"I mean, we," Miley ran a frustrated hand through her hair, "Nick, we're friends. We've always been." She said awkwardly, and looked away.

A flash of hurt crossed Nick's face and he dropped his hands from hers. "Yeah…," he shook his head, "you're right. I don't know what I was thinking." He took a step backwards.

Miley bit her lip, "I'm sorry." She touched her arm lightly, "I know you don't want this, either. We're best friends, Nick. Always have been." She felt the guilt rise inside of her and squeezed his arm.

He didn't reply.

"Nick, please," She put her hand on his face and turned his face towards her, "please don't let this make things weird between us."

Nick let out a laugh, but anyone could tell it wasn't real. "Sorry, Mi, you're right. You are my best friend." He smiled weakly and opened out his arms.

She smiled back and crawled into his arms, "Thank you." She muttered against his shirt, that awful stench of smoke mixed with something hit her nose again.

"What were you doing before you came here, Nick?" She asked.

He didn't answer immediately, just hugged her tighter, "It's nothing. Promise." He said, finally.

Normally, she would've bugged him for a more detailed answer but today, she just wasn't in the mood. She felt tired.

"So you wanna dance with your _best friend_?" He emphasized on the word 'best friend' and Miley wasn't sure if he meant it as a taunt or a simple innocent implication.

She shook her head and passed him a tired smile, "I'm sorry. I don't feel like it. I was actually heading back to the hotel before you showed up."

"Oh, okay. Cool." He shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, so I'm just going to go now. Take a cab or something.."

"Want me to come with you?" He offered.

"No, thank you." She replied. "stay here. Enjoy yourself." She added a chuckle and punched his arm lightly.

Nick didn't insist. He just nodded.

"Bye, Nick." She said and with a brief kiss on his cheek, she was gone.

Nick stared after her retreating figure, a wave of rejection washing over him. He felt worse than he had in a long time. He needed a drink. Looking around the club, he walked towards the bar. Lots of people were hanging beside it but he could only see one person.

Selena.

**Whew, that was long. But ahhhh, how was it? ;p Personally, I didn't like a few parts in the middle and somewhere towards the end; I was feeling lazy when I wrote them, I guess. Hahah. But thank you for all your reviews. :] I love you guys. So, tell me what you thought about this chapter and the story so far? And what was Nick doing before he came to see Miley? ;p And oh, sorry if there are any grammatical/spelling mistakes. They make me cringe, so incase I missed any, tell me. **

**Review, my loves.  
>xoxo<strong>


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